A charter high school program operating since 2003 in Redwood City is about to become much more visible in the South Bay.

Summit Public Schools, featured in last year’s documentary film about American public education, “Waiting for Superman,” plans to open two new secondary school campuses in San Jose this fall. Both schools will be housed at the National Hispanic University campus at 14271 Story Road on the city’s east side.

Expansion is being driven by demands from parents in the East Side Union High School, said Diane Tavenner, Summit’s founder and CEO. Nine hundred parents signed a petition asking for a Summit campus to be located in their district.

The two schools will occupy a total of 23,000 square feet of space and enroll 100 freshman per school in the fall, adding a new grade and 100 new students each subsequent year.

But the Tahoma and Rainier high school campuses will only be able to stay at National Hispanic University’s location for two years, Tavenner said. As the programs grow to the eventual size of 800 students total, the schools will have to move to a larger location by 2013, she said.

“Parents are looking down many avenues to find high-achieving academic programs for their students,” said Dennis Cima, senior vice president of education and public policy for the Silicon Valley Leadership Group, an advocacy group for the region’s major employers. “If these charter schools can provide such a program, we encourage it.”

Tavenner said her two Redwood City schools — Summit Preparatory Charter High School and Everest Public High School — are ranked in the top 1 percent of high schools nationwide by Newsweek magazine. In recent years, all of her graduating seniors had met academic goals required to attend University of California or California State University schools, and 96 percent are accepted by at least one four-year college.

Although studies have revealed vastly different levels of achievement by charter school students around the state, they’re growing in popularity. Vicky Waters, director of media relations for the Sacramento-based California Charter Schools Association, said the number of charter high schools statewide increased from 222 during the 2007-08 academic year to 264 by 2009-10. Charter middle schools grew from 79 to 99 during the same period, and charter elementary schools increased from 314 to 368. The only category of traditional public schools increasing in number in the Golden State are high schools: from 1,113 in 2007-08 to 1,158 last year.

Follow the rules

Charter schools are considered public institutions and receive the same state support as traditional public schools. This year that was $5,800 per high-school student, Tavenner said.

But charter schools are not governed by the state Education Code, which enables them to set their own performance goals for faculty and staff.

“We have a lot of freedom in our curriculum,” Tavenner said.

The programs and results, however, are overseen by the public school district in which they’re located. Direct governance is provided by an autonomous board of directors similar to nonprofit organizations.

Even so, before a charter school can open its door, its curriculum must be approved by a public school district, a county board of education or state board of education.

“We write a charter petition and must adhere to it,” Tavenner said. “If charter schools don’t meet their expected outcomes, they will close.”

A 2009 report on charter schools nationwide from the Center for Research on Education Outcomes at Stanford University gave them decidedly mixed marks. It found that 17 percent of them reported academic gains significantly higher than traditional public schools, but 37 percent of the charter schools reported gains below that of traditional public schools.

Tavenner said her schools reflect the racial and ethnic makeup of their surrounding communities: Summit Prep in Redwood City is 53 percent Latino and 43 percent white. The San Jose student body will be 50 percent Latino and 35 percent of Asian descent, mostly Vietnamese.

Cima of the Silicon Valley Leadership Group said like all public schools, charters are not immune to the budget travails of recent years.

“These are difficult times, even for charter schools, whether they are great programs or middle-of-the-road,” he said. “It’s tougher for them in times like these to get the attention of public school boards. These people are just trying to put out fires these days. Projects, programs and initiatives that change the way students learn and teachers teach all suffer when everyone is just trying to keep the lights on.”

David Goll can be reached at 408.299.1853 or dgoll@bizjournals.com.

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